Loading accessory for a motorcar roof



Nov. 2, 1965 R. SALAMIN 3,215,294

LOADING ACCESSORY FOR A MOTOR-CAR ROOF Filed March 10, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR. RENE SALAMIN Nov. 2, 1965 R. SALAMIN 3,215,294

LOADING ACCESSORY FOR A MOTOR-CAR ROOF Filed March 10, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

RENE SALAMIN Nov. 2, 1965 R. SALAMIN 3,215,294

LOADING ACCESSORY FOR A MOTOR-CAR ROOF Filed March 10, 1964 Z5 Sheets-Sheet 3 VIII/11517111111 I III INVEN TOR.

REN'E SALAMIN BY United States Patent 3,215,294 LOADING ACCESSORY FOR A MOTOR- CAR ROOF Ren Salamin, Sierre, Switzerland, assignor to Carrosserie Torsa Schallbetter & Cie S.A., Sierre, Switzerland, a

firm of Switzerland Filed Mar. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 350,875 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Mar. 12, 1963, 3,137/63; July 16, 1963, 8,856/63 1 Claim. (Cl. 214-450) The present invention relates to a motor-car accessory.

This accessory is characterised in that it comprises a luggage rack designed to be fixed to the roof of a motor-car and having a removably attached hoist comprising an angle bracket mounted for rotation in its support in such a manner that its end may be positioned above the luggage rack or laterally thereof so that the cargo to be placed on the luggage rack can be raised by means of said hoist and then brought to a position above the luggage rack by rotation of the said angle bracket.

The drawings show by way of example two embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a view in rear elevation of a motor-car equipped with the accessory according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a luggage rack forming part of the said accessory.

FIG. 3 is an elevation of a detail.

FIG. 4 is a section of the hoist forming part of the said accessory.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a detail.

FIG. 6 is a rear view, partly in section, of a part of a motor-car equipped with the accessory according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an axial section of a detail on a larger scale.

FIG. 8 is a section taken on the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a section taken on the line IX1X of FIG. 7 in which the free ends of the cable have been stretched out to the right of the figure to make the drawing clearer.

T-he accessory shown comprises a luggage rack 1 which is designed to be fixed on to the roof of a motor-car 2. The luggage rack is formed by two tubular cross-pieces 3 of square cross-section and four longitudinal members 4 of circular cross-section. It is provided with legs 5 which are slidably mounted on the cross-pieces 3 so that their spacing can be adjusted so as to enable them to be supported by the gutters of the roof of the vehicle 2. The means for fixing the luggage rack to the vehicle may be of any desired type and do not form part of the invention.

For the purpose of attaching a hoist, the luggage rack has at its front left-hand corner, with respect to the direction of travel of the vehicle to which it is fixed, a transverse element 6 which is fixed to two longitudinal members 4 and has the same cross-section as the crosspieces 3. A gusset plate 7 (FIGS. 2 and 3) which is perforated by two square holes 8 at points corresponding to the positions of the ends of the cross-piece 3 and the transverse element 6, is attached to these two members.

The hoist, designated by the reference numeral 9, comprises a structure 10 having a cylindrical part 10a, in which there is rotatably mounted a winch drum 11, and a tubular part 10b which is perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical part 10a and vertical. This tubular part 10b is adapted to receive the base of a tubular angle bracket 12 through which there passes a cable 13 which can be wound on to the drum 11. The cable 13 passes over pulley wheels 14 and 15 (FIG. 4) and leaves the angle bracket 12 at its top end. The base of the angle bracket 12 is freely rotatable in the tubular part 10b of the structure so that the angle bracket may be freely turned. The structure 10 also has a reinforcing web which joins the cylindrical part 10a to the tubular part 10b. The structure 10 also includes a longitudinal member 10d which carries two fixing pegs 16 and 17 and a screw 18. The pegs 16 and 17 are of square crosssection corresponding to the inside cross-section of the cross-piece 3 and the transverse element 6 and are designed to engage these two members through the holes 8 in the gusset plate 7. The latter also has a hole 19 (FIG. 3) for the reception of the screw 18. A clamping nut 20 prevents untimely separation of the hoist from the luggage rack, to which it is thus removably attached.

The peg 16 (FIG. 4) encloses a central bore which guides the shaft 21 of the drum 11. This shaft is mounted for rotation in an inside flange 22 of the cylindrical part 10a of the structure 10 and in a cover 23 which closes the end of the part 10a. The part of the shaft 21 extending beyond the peg 16 terminates in a portion 21a of square cross-section. The front cross-piece 3 is traversed by the shank 24a of a crank 24. The shank terminates in a head 25 which engages the square-section portion 21a of the shaft 21. The crank 24 is maintained in position in the front cross-piece 3 by a thrust element 26 which fits roundthe shank 24a to bear against a collar 24b provided on the shank and which is held in position by means of a clamping screw 27 in the end of the front cross-piece 3. A pawl 28, articulated to the thrust element 26, co-operates with a ratchet 29 keyed to the shank 24a to prevent the latter turning in a retrograde direction. The pawl may be lifted by hand to disengage it from the ratchet.

The operation of the device shown is as follows. The angle bracket 12 is brought into the position shown in FIG. 1, in which its end is disposed laterally of the luggage rack, thus allowing for the raising of a load placed beside the vehicle 2. In the present example the load constitutes a boat 30 to the bottom of which there is fixed a lifting rod 31 having an eye 31a in which the cable of the hoist 9 may be hooked, for example by means of a snap hook. The rod 31 is screwed into the bottom of the boat 30 so that is can be removed before the boat is used. It may also serve as a prop for a tilt when the boat is not in use. The boat is lifted by means of the winch, which is actuated by means of the crank 24. When the boat has reached a level above that of the luggage rack 1, the angle bracket 12 is turned freely until its end is directly above the luggage rack. It is then only necessary to turn the crank in the reverse direction to deposit the boat on to the luggage rack. The

entire operation can be readily executed by a single operator.

The hoist and the crank are then removed and may be readily placed in the boat, which can form a container for other objects which will preferably be hoisted on to the luggage rack at the same time as the boat.

It may be noted that if the motor-car is parked at the edge of a quay it will be possible to lower the boat directly on to the water by means of the hoist 9.

FIG. 6 depicts the second embodiment and shows the rack 32 of a motor-car to which there is fixed a luggage rack designated generally by the reference numeral 33. At its front left-hand corner the luggage rack is provided with a fixed vertical bearing neck 34 round which there is removably placed the tubular column 35 of an angle bracket having a horizontal jib 36. The column 35 may be turned about the bearing neck 34 in such a manner that the jib may be brought into any position. The jib 36 is of upright square section, as illustrated in FIG. 3, and a a screw-threaded rod 37 extends through the length of the jib and terminates at its rear end in a crank 38 mounted for rotation in the jib 36.

The rod 37 turns in a tapped bore 39 in a parallelopipedic slide 40 which is of square cross-section and is guided by the jib 36 in such a manner that it can slide therein without turning. Rotation of the rod 37 in one direction or the other produces longitudinal displacement of the slide 40 in the jib 36 in one direction or the other. a

The slide carries two pulleys 41 which are disposed coaxially one on each of two opposite sides of the slide. Round each of the pulleys there passes a cable 42 which is made fast at one end in the proximity of the front end of the jib 36, whilst its other end is attached to a hook 44. The two cables 42 also pass over two pulleys 45 mounted coaxially at the front end of the jib 36.

Due to the arrangement described and illustrated, the maximum distance through which the hook 44 and thus the load attached thereto can travel is double the distance through which the slide 40 can travel in the jib 36. This means that a substantially useful hoisting distance is obtained without it being necessary for the hoist to have means for winding the cable, such as a drum or a winch. The pitch of the thread on the rod 37 will be chosen so that the crank can be readily operated by a single operator even when the maximum'permissible load for the device is hooked on to the cables 42.

It may be noted that the two cables 42 could be formed by a single cable which would then be fixed at its midpoint at the end of the jib 36, as shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 9.

What I claim is:

Apparatus for hoisting loads to and from supported position overlying the roof of a motor vehicle comprising: a load supporting structure being securable relative to the roof of the motor vehicle, a boom means including a vertically extending standard having a lower end removably attachable to said load supporting structure and an upper end disposed upwardly of the plane of said load supporting structure and a horizontally extending arm secured at its inboard end to and projecting laterally from the upper end of the standard and having an outboard free end and means to permit swinging said boom means relative to said load supporting structure, a threaded shaft extending longitudinally through the arm of said boom means and being rotatable relative thereto, means oper atively connected to said shaft for imparting rotative movement thereto, a slide sleeved within the arm of said boom means and being engaged by said shaft for rectilinear displacement of said slide longitudinally of the arm of said boom means by the rotative movement of said shaft, a cable pulley arrangement rotatively mounted on said slide, a cable having an intermediate portion wound over said pulley arrangement and extending outwardly through the standard and outwardly of the outboard free end thereof and having a remote outboard end adapted for effective engagement with the load and having an inboard end fixed to the arm of said boom means adjacent the outboard free end thereof, the eifective distance of travel of the remote end of said cable being twice the travel of said slide relative to the arm of said boom means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 705,718 7/02 Thiele. 1,407,855 2/22 Green. 2,131,133 9/38 Babson. 2,799,402 7/57 Norman. 2,896,804 7/59 Ingram 214450 2,940,621 6/60 White. 2,967,635 1/61 Barnett 214-450 3,139,203 6/64 Borger 214450 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. 

